All About Water Restrictions
About half of the water Floridians use at home goes to our landscapes. When water shortages in Florida become serious, the state’s five water management districts often limit the number of days homeowners can water their landscapes.
What are water management districts?
Florida’s five water management districts (WMDs) are state agencies that manage and protect our water resources on a regional basis. In dry times, the water restrictions your WMD issues should be followed exactly, as they ensure that there’s enough water for everyone.
What are water restrictions?
A WMD issues water restrictions when the water supply for that region may be endangered. To prevent severe shortages, lawn and landscape water restrictions are issued. Some WMDs have year-round water restrictions, whatever the weather conditions.
Water restrictions apply to everyone in a WMD, regardless of income, location, lot size, or water source. Restrictions usually limit watering with a sprinkler or irrigation system to certain times on certain days of the week. These times and days may be different depending on your house number, neighborhood, or side of the street. Water restrictions in your area may also be called “irrigation schedules.”
How do I know if I have water restrictions?
To figure out which WMD you live in, visit the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Water Management Districts web page.
If you live in Florida, chances are your area will experience water restrictions during dry months and perhaps year-round. Recent years have been extremely dry, and with the constant influx of new people to the state, the aquifer system that supplies most of our water is increasingly taxed, with less rainwater returning to refill it.
The best way to find out if your area currently has water restrictions is to visit your water management district’s web site:
- St. Johns River Water Management District
- Southwest Florida Water Management District
- South Florida Water Management District
- Suwannee River Water Management District
- Northwest Florida Water Management District